After the theft of the century.. another loot of 200 billion from the currency auctions

Information/private… Today, a member of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee, Ali Turki Al-Jamali, revealed the value of the money that was stolen from the secretariats of companies and remittances in the process of buying the dollar from the currency auction, adding that the amount stolen so far amounted to 200 billion Iraqi dinars.

Turki said in an interview with “The Information”, that “200 billion Iraqi dinars were seized in the previous caretaker government,” stressing that “the theft took place from the funds of the companies that placed safe deposits before entering the currency auction and buying the dollar.”

He added, “In the time of the government of former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, the condition for entering the auction for selling the dollar was transferred from written guarantees to financial guarantees.”

And he continued, “Some of the companies tried to retrieve these trusts, but they were shocked that their trusts had been stolen by a financial gang at the time of Al-Kazemi’s government,” noting that “all the trust funds were preserved in the governments that preceded Al-Kazemi’s government.”

This theft comes after the theft of the century, estimated at 2.7 billion dollars, from tax deposits carried out by an entire network, some of whom were arrested, as well as the theft of customs secretariats, which are now being investigated by the Public Integrity Committee and the competent authorities.

Almaalomah.me

The Central Bank’s sales have decreased by 40% since November.. One expectation may explain the reason

Yes Iraq: Baghdad – During the first days of this November, the Central Bank of Iraq sold 536 million dollars within 4 days, at a time when these amounts were equivalent to sales of only two days during the past months, which means a decrease in the percentage of central bank sales of hard currency between 40-50% since the beginning of October This November.

And the window for selling hard currency to the Central Bank showed that 151.8 million dollars were sold on Tuesday 1/11 this month, 120 million dollars on Wednesday 2/11 this month, and 128.7 million dollars on Thursday 3/11, while 135.5 million dollars were sold during an auction today. Next Sunday 6/11, according to the data of the auction on Sunday, which was conducted today, Thursday.

The total sales of the four days amounted to about 536 million dollars, which amounts were made within two or three days in the past months, which means that the Central Bank’s sales have decreased by nearly 40% since the beginning of this month.

The data show that the decrease came due to the decrease in sales of cash demand by about 80%, which can be explained by the fact that the decrease in central bank sales came due to the weak demand for the dollar by citizens, especially with fears that the price of the dollar could change in the coming days. As for foreign remittance sales for the purpose of import, they did not. change or be affected a lot.

Yesiraq.com

A new government in Iraq after more than a year of political crisis

After a year of tension that reached sometimes violent violence, Iraq finally got a new government after Parliament gave confidence to Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani and his team, who must now face many political and economic challenges.

This green light for the new government constitutes a decisive station in the path of a slow exit from a political crisis that Iraq has suffered for more than a year, that is, since the legislative elections in October 2021.

But finally, deputies in parliament , located in the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, voted by an absolute majority for the new government, according to an official statement issued by Al-Sudani’s office.

Deputies voted by a majority of half plus one of 329 deputies, on the ministerial program and then on 21 ministers by show of hands inside the parliament hall in the capital during the session in which 253 deputies participated, according to the Parliament Information Service.

The new government consists of 12 Shiite ministers, the majority of whom are nominated by the coordination framework, six Sunni ministers, two Kurdish ministers, and one minister for minorities, while two ministries from the Kurdish component’s share are still under negotiation and have not yet been filled. Three women hold positions in the new government.

Al-Sudani, 52, succeeds Mustafa Al-Kazemi, who took over as prime minister in May 2020.

Prior to the start of the session, Al-Sudani said in a speech to Parliament, “Our ministerial team will address the responsibility at this stage in which the world is witnessing very large political and economic transformations and conflicts.”

Al-Sudani, a governor and former minister from the traditional Shiite political class, was commissioned on October 13 to form the government by the new President of the Republic, Abdul Latif Rashid, immediately after his election. He is the candidate of the pro-Iranian political forces involved in the coordination framework.

During the session, opposition MP Alaa Al-Rikabi of the extension movement emanating from the Tishreen protests expressed his objection to the new government, which led to a quarrel inside the hall. But the session continued after that.

After the session, al-Rikabi told reporters, “For two decades, the same parties in power have been in harmony with each other… They form quota governments that have destroyed the country.” He added, “We are against this government, and it was born… and a political opposition was born with it in the Iraqi parliament.”

Relationship with the chest

The Sadrist movement, the main opponent of the coordination framework, was not represented in this government, while its leader, the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, had previously pledged that he would not participate in it.

During the past year, the differences and tension between the two sides of the crisis, the Sadrist movement and the coordination framework, escalated dramatically. In late August, bloody violence was evident in the street, in which more than 30 al-Sadr supporters were killed in clashes with the army and the Popular Mobilization Forces, an alliance of armed factions that have become affiliated with the state and represented a large part in the coordination framework.

Professor at the University of Baghdad and head of the Center for Political Thinking, Ihsan Al-Shammari, believes that “the relationship with Al-Sadr is the most important challenge for the government of Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani, given that Al-Sadr gave pre-positions towards a government formed by the framework, towards the candidate himself.”

From here, Al-Shammari explains that Al-Sudani and the coordinating framework should “establish quick bridges with the leader of the Sadrist movement” and give them “guarantees that are reassurances on the issue of the requirements of the leader of the Sadrist movement in relation to the reform process and even holding early elections.”

If this does not happen, “the challenge will be very great” and may lead to an “extremist reaction by the leader of the Sadrist movement and even his followers”, i.e. resorting to the street again.

Al-Sudani included in the program of his new government, the clause “amending the parliamentary elections law within three months and holding early elections within a year,” one of the demands of al-Sadr, who says he is against the quota system that has dominated the way of government in Iraq since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003.

Political and Social crises

But what Iraqis expect from this government is a response to the political and social crises they are experiencing.

This country, which has enormous wealth in oil, suffers from a deterioration in the electricity network, while every four young people out of 10 are unemployed and a third of the population is poor.

In a statement, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq welcomed the granting of confidence to the new government, warning of “serious challenges that require decisive measures” awaiting it, such as “addressing corruption” and “the effects of climate change.”

Also, the US Ambassador to Baghdad Alina Romanovsky, in a tweet, congratulated the new government for gaining confidence and said, “We look forward to working with the new government to advance our common goals during this pivotal stage for Iraq and its people.”

In his program, Al-Sudani seeks to “address the phenomenon of unemployment and create job opportunities for young people of both sexes” and “reform the economic and financial sectors, especially the agricultural, industrial and banking sectors, and support the private sector.”

The new prime minister must also deal with the 2022 budget that has not yet been approved, allowing the benefit of 87 billion dollars of foreign currency reserves, the majority of which are from oil revenues, that lie in the central bank, awaiting a new government.

These are real challenges in a country that suffers from chronic corruption and nepotism that dominates the joints of the state, while Iraq is also facing a severe drought crisis, with the decline in rain and river levels, affecting the lives of the population.

Iraqi political analyst Ali Al-Baydar expects that the popular anger, and the anger of Muqtada al-Sadr’s supporters, will be manifested in “joint protests” between these and the “October Movement protesters”, which shook Iraq in October 2019.

Rawabetcenter.com

Al-Sudani officially receives his duties from Al-Kazemi

Shafaq News / Today, Friday, Prime Minister Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani officially assumed his duties as Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

This came during the handover ceremony with former Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, which took place today, Friday, according to a statement issued by the Iraqi government.

On Thursday, October 27, the Iraqi parliament voted on the cabinet of the new Prime Minister, Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani, after it voted by an absolute majority on his ministerial program.

Shafaq.com

Sovereignty: The Sudanese government will pass without the objection of the Sunni blocs

Information / Anbar…  The representative of the Sovereignty Alliance, Yahya al-Muhammadi, confirmed, on Thursday, that the government of Prime Minister-designate Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani will proceed without the objection of the Sunni blocs, except for the coalition’s demands to change some names, denying the existence of any tendency to boycott the session by the Sunni blocs.

Al-Muhammadi said in a statement to the “Information” agency, “The government of Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani will pass in today’s session, and there is no tendency to boycott today’s session by the Sunni blocs and parties, and no objection was registered except by the Sovereignty Alliance about changing many of the names and if Al-Sudani did not respond.” This demand may be another position of the sovereignty.”

He added, “Sunni blocs and parties did not object to the quotas of the Sunni component of six ministries, but the objection to the names and the demand from the Prime Minister-designate, Muhammad Shia, to replace them according to the demands of the leaders of the Sovereignty Alliance.”

Al-Mohammadi confirmed, “The political blocs and parties’ determination to pass the Sudanese government, and so far no boycott of the session by any of the participating parties has been recorded.” finished/ 12a

Almaalomah.me

An expert shows the economic damage that exhausted the people during the Al-Kazemi government

Information/special. Today, economist Nabil Al-Tamimi highlighted the economic damage that affected the Iraqi people during the caretaker government, while stressing that the current government’s spending amounted to more than 145 trillion dinars.

Al-Tamimi said in an interview with the Information Agency, that “the current government, despite its constitutional description as a caretaker government, has broad and great powers, including spending powers according to Financial Management Law No. 6 of 2019, which authorized the government to spend equivalent to what it spent in the past year (ie. up to 120 trillion dinars during this year) in addition to the legislation of the emergency support law, which authorized it to spend another 25 trillion dinars,” noting that “the volume of spending represents a large number, and may exceed 145 trillion dinars during this year only.”

And he added, “The general economic situation witnessed economic shocks that faced the Iraqi individual in the period 2020-2022, which contributed to raising poverty levels to approximately 31%.”

And the economic expert explained, “A large segment of citizens was affected during the period of the spread of the Corona pandemic due to social restrictions, the ban had caused those outside the functional environment to accumulate debts and economic damage,” noting that they “suffered for a longer period after the end of these restrictions without there being government responsibility. towards those segments as is the case in the rest of the world.”

And he indicated that “that segment was damaged again when the government and the Central Bank of Iraq imposed a change in the exchange rate of the dollar against the dinar, which contributed to the rise in price inflation by 18%, which put pressure on the entry of those weak and fragile segments.”

He pointed out that “the global monetary easing policies produced global price inflation prior to the European-Russian-Ukrainian crisis, which was referred to by international organizations such as the FAO and the World Food Programme, which caused an increase in the suffering of the poor and middle segments inside Iraq.”

During the period of the caretaker government, the Iraqi people suffered from the wrong economic policies that it had adopted in its government program, the “white paper”, including raising the dollar exchange rate on society.

Almaalomah.me

Parliamentary direction to gradually restore the dollar exchange rate…

Shafaq News / A number of members of the Iraqi Council of Representatives demanded the inclusion of the voting paragraph on restoring the exchange rate of the US dollar against the Iraqi dinar to its previous official rate.

A member of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee, Hamid Al-Shiblawi, said, according to an official document obtained by Shafak News Agency, entitled “Reducing the dollar exchange rate”, that “due to the repercussions of the rise in the exchange rate of the dollar against the dinar, which negatively affected the economic situation of the Iraqi family, which burdened the citizen.” Especially those with low incomes. We, members of the attached list, ask the Presidency of the House of Representatives to include a paragraph to reduce the dollar exchange rate and gradually return it to the previous exchange rate within the work schedule of the next session in the public interest.

The list showed the signatures of 40 deputies so far.

It is noteworthy that the Central Bank of Iraq, on December 19, 2020, officially announced the amendment of the foreign currency exchange rate (the US dollar) to be 1450 dinars, instead of 1200 dinars, for every 100 dollars, according to the state’s general budget for the year 2021 approved by the House of Representatives. .

As a result, according to specialists, the annual inflation in Iraq has risen significantly, so that all prices of materials and goods in the Iraqi market have risen significantly, which has sparked a wave of strong resentment among the popular circles, as well as the objections of some interested in economic affairs.

Shafaq.com

A “significant and sudden” drop in the dollar exchange rates in Baghdad

Shafaq News / The exchange rates of the US dollar against the Iraqi dinar fell “significantly and surprisingly” today, Monday, in the main stock exchange in the capital, Baghdad, while it witnessed stability in the Kurdistan Region.

Shafaq News Agency correspondent said that the central Al-Kifah and Al-Harithiya stock exchanges in Baghdad recorded this morning, an exchange rate of 146350 Iraqi dinars for every 100 US dollars, while the prices on Sunday were 146700 Iraqi dinars against 100 US dollars, indicating that the dollar exchange rate witnessed A drop of about 400 dinars within hours in a new price that seems surprising to currency customers.

Our correspondent indicated that the buying and selling prices decreased in the banking shops in the local markets in Baghdad, where the selling price reached 147000 dinars per 100 dollars, while the purchase prices amounted to 146000 dinars.

In Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, dollar prices have witnessed stability, with the selling price reaching 147,100 dinars per $100, and the purchase price reaching 147,000 dinars.

Shafaq.com

Deputy: An upcoming parliamentary hosting of the Governor of the Central Bank and the Minister of Finance regarding the reduction of the exchange rate

Baghdad – Mawazine News: The representative of the Sadiqoon bloc, Suhaila Al-Sultani, announced today, Monday, the hosting of the Governor of the Central Bank and the Minister of Finance in order to reduce the exchange rate of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar.

Al-Sultani said, according to the media of her bloc, that “the signatures of more than 50 deputies were collected to host the governor of the Central Bank and the Minister of Finance in the new government in order to put pressure on reducing the exchange rate, even if it was in stages or gradually.”

She added, “The exchange rate must be reduced due to the difficult standard of living that the Iraqi people are experiencing now and the high rate of poverty,” stressing that “the representatives who signed the exchange rate cut will present a successful financial policy on which global policies are based.”

And she added, “All deputies and political blocs are determined to reduce the exchange rate, and the number of deputies who signed will increase in the coming days.”
A number of deputies had announced, earlier today, the collection of parliamentary signatures from all political blocs in order to work to reduce the exchange rate of the dollar. Raising the price of the dollar in a year. Ended 29 / h

Mawazin.net

Corruption scandals open the gates of hell to the outgoing government

Information / Baghdad… After one of the elements of the team involved in stealing tax funds that exceeded 3.7 trillion dinars was arrested, and some sources indicated that the arrested person, Nour Zuhair Ali, had a relationship with the outgoing Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, which raised his voice loudly To hold all parties in the outgoing government to account who are proven to be involved in corruption.

The representative of the Al-Fateh Alliance, Rafiq Al-Salihi, told Al-Maalouma, “The House of Representatives will present evidence of accusation against the caretaker Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, and some ministers, on charges of wasting and stealing public money, especially as it bears responsibility for the aggravation of the situation in the country as a result of the spread of corruption and its high rates.”

On the other hand, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Sajjad Salem, told Al-Maalouma, “Special committees from the Financial Supervision Bureau and the Parliamentary Integrity, Finance and Labor Commission were formed to detect those involved in the tax theft scandal, as the stolen money will return to the central treasury after completing Procedures in the competent international courts.

On the other hand, political analyst Muayyad Al-Ali said, during his interview with “Al-Maalouma”, that other thefts will appear successively after exposing the theft of tax deposits, pointing out that the Al-Kazemi government carried out another theft operation by accompanying the Investment Authority granting a license to an Emirati company that represents a front for companies. Zionism, as this company acquired a thousand dunams from the Al-Kazemi government in the approaches to Baghdad Airport to build a golf course.”

Almaalomah.me